Manoeuvres 3 is a collection of electronica from British Columbia. Put together by So Called Recordings, it collects an "eclectic roster" of musicians. A surprising sampling from largely unheard-of bands, this volume of the Manoeuvres series leans toward the mellow side of electronica, with ambient tracks and downtempo vibes.

1. Sinewave "Exploded Nodes"
2. Dreamboat "Townies (longshank's that's about it mix)"
3. Christer "Kooch"
4. Michael Red "Top Score"
5. Ookpikk "Cloud Gang"
6. Taal Mala "Bangface"
7. Mikeverde "Riding My Bike At Night"
8. Telefuzz "Slept On The Shores"
9. Intrinsic Warrior "Of The Sun"
10. Elonious Funk "Rose Black's Shadow"

The compilation begins with "Exploded Nodes," from Sinewave. It starts with ambient synth chords that crackle. Some sharp beats snap in to give us some rhythm. The vocals are low, male, and abstract. Definitely downtempo material.

Dreamboat shakes things up with Longshank's "That's About It" mix of "Townies." Very glitchy. The vocals are a bit distorted. The drums keep a nice beat, but the real complexity here is in the keyboards, which sparkle and fizz like a symphony of fireworks.

Female-fronted Christer puts forth a synthpop track called "Kooch." Heavy on the keyboards and vocals, this track keeps the same tempo from beginning to end. Just slightly above being laidback. I have a hard time understanding the lyrics- for a long time I thought they were saying "Could you go?"

"Top Score" from Michael Red sets a tone with tapping drumsticks and a nice rhythm. Then he layers heavily electro synths over the top. It reminds me of electropop from years ago, by way of that sort of 80s sound with more modern technology. Peppy and fun, it runs a little long without any vocals to break up the sugar-sweet pinging synthesizers.

Ookpikk's "Cloud Gang" opens with squelchy keyboards and picks up a bit of drum. Some light synthesizer swirls follow along. Unfortunately, this track doesn't really go anywhere, and takes almost five minutes to get there.

Taal Mala's "Bangface" rocks out with some old school video game sounding synthesizers. This could be the soundtrack to your battle with the boss at the end of the dungeon level.

"Riding My Bike At Night," from Mikeverde, is a really nice track. It has soaring electro keyboards and a nice beat. It's a bit more uptempo. Sprinkled with shiny bits of glitch and snaps of neon. It has a kinetic feel, an urban flow. Maybe the best track on the whole album.

Telefuzz's "Slept on the Shores" wastes no time bringing it's laidback house beat into play. Keyboards shimmer. The first track with vocals in quite a while, the lyrics are low, almost whispered, and sound like a foreign language.

"Of The Sun" comes to us from the interestingly named "Intrinsic Warrior." A simple piano melody gets paired with a slow beat. The piano turns to synthesizer and gets a little moody. The beat almost sounds organic, like a slow tribal rhythm.

Elonious Funk gives us "Rose Black's Shadow." With operatic vocals and heavy keyboards, it's a bit on the dark side, sonically. It has a little bit of a trip-hop beat. This is also the last track on the album, and a nice way to end things.

While I wouldn't give this album a lot of stars, it's worth listening to. It's nice to hear electronica from more independent musicians, and British Columbia provides a unique perspective on this style of music.

~ Ethan Georgi

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